Respect and Place

The photo above was taken on the unceded and traditional lands of the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ people.

In this collection, and in most of our work, we share our love of landscape and describe how much pleasure we find spending time in nature, wrapped in knits. The beautiful, natural places in the Pacific Northwest where we were born and raised bring us immeasurable joy and inspiration.

Along with this joy, we recognize that these places are the traditional and unceded homelands of First Nations Peoples. It is important for us to recognize the fact that this place we call Canada has been, and continues to be, shaped by a dark history of colonization through genocide, forced assimilation, and an ongoing legacy of racism and systemic oppression toward First Nations Peoples.

As white Canadians, we are inheritors of systems that continue to harm the First Nations Peoples we live and work alongside. Most institutions – and mainstream culture itself – privilege us and our kids, while oppressing our First Nations neighbours and denying their sovereignty. Acknowledging this history, its present-day consequences, our place within it, and the traditional peoples of these lands are only small, first steps toward building respect, beginning with ourselves, our families, and our communities. 

With deep respect for the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people whose territories were taken from them in the formation of Canada, we acknowledge the truth that we are settlers on Indigenous lands. From what is now known as Vancouver Island, Emily was born and raised on the ancestral lands of the K’ómoks First Nation, Tla’amin Nation, and Homalco First Nation. Alexa grew up and still lives on the traditional lands of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Squamish Nation, Stó:lō Nation, and Musqueam People. Many of the designs in this collection were photographed upon these unceded lands.

We invite you to visit our website to learn about our commitments to equity, diversity, inclusion, and antiracism – and what they mean for the work we do.

~ Emily and Alexa